The small funeral home company that holds the lucrative contract for the city’s body removal services may soon be dissolved due to its failure to pay business license fees to the state — a potential default on the $4.4 million contract that remains at the center of an ongoing lawsuit.
Records from the Illinois secretary of state’s office show Wallace-Harrison Funeral Home Inc. provided an “unacceptable payment” to the state in late July. If the payment is not resolved within 60 days, “the entity is subject to involuntary dissolution,” according to a spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office.
Company President Nakia Wallace-Harrison couldn’t be reached for comment.
In a brief interview with the Tribune earlier this year, Wallace-Harrison said her company’s work with the city has “gone great,” despite the lawsuit from a competitor that challenges her company’s ability to handle the high volume associated with the city work.
Procurement records show the company has so far been paid more than $475,000 for body removal services, with the contract to run through 2030.
The designation by the secretary of state’s office came on July 29 — just days before dozens of bodies were found improperly stored in a South Side funeral home. Wallace-Harrison Funeral Home Inc. is not linked to that scandal, which has put a spotlight on such businesses.
Last year, Wallace-Harrison saw her funeral director and embalmer license suspended by the Illinois Department of Professional and Financial Regulation over her failure to pay state income taxes. IDPFR records show Wallace-Harrison’s license was suspended from November 2025 until May 2026.
The body removal agreement stipulates that the contract holder “must pay all taxes and obtain all licenses, certificates, and other authorizations required in connection with the performance of its obligations hereunder, and Contractor must require all Subcontractors to also do so. Failure to do so is an event of default and may result in the termination of this Contract.”
Further, the contract states, “Failure to have and maintain all professional licenses required by law to perform the Services” will “constitute an event of default.”
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Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office didn’t respond to a Tribune inquiry on the contract.
Wallace-Harrison Funeral Home Inc., which formerly operated inside Rago Brothers Funeral Home at 7751 W. Irving Park Road, was awarded the $4.4 million contract in 2025 to transport deceased remains to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The contract was previously held by Allied Services Group, which filed a lawsuit earlier this year challenging the contract award.
John Scheflow, an attorney for Allied Services Group, said in a statement to the Tribune: “Unfortunately, Allied Services Group is not surprised to learn of the status of Wallace Harrison Funeral Home’s registration — it is in keeping with the feedback we are hearing from those it is supposed to be providing services. Allied Services Group, with its owner, John Stamps, remains ready and willing to assume its contract with the City.”
Allied’s lawsuit alleges the city terminated its contract with Allied more than a month before it was set to expire. Further, Allied claims the city awarded the contract to Wallace-Harrison despite “obvious” failings in its bid, including a skeleton crew staff, a failure to hold insurance and noncompliance with city rules governing women- and minority-owned businesses.
Allied alleged its contract with the city lasted until mid-August 2025, but Allied was “prevented” from performing body removal services after July 1.
“(Wallace-Harrison Funeral Home’s) Affidavit provided that the transportation of deceased persons for the entire City of Chicago will be carried out by 5 individuals employed at (Wallace-Harrison Funeral Home), with no subcontractors identified,” the suit alleges.
“As a result of Defendant selecting WHFH when its inability to perform under the project was apparent from the deficiencies in the information it submitted as part of its bid, the City of Chicago is being underserved in the transportation of dead bodies to the medical examiner’s office.”
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for mid-October, records show.